31 August 2006

Did I ever tell you about my collection of doggie licenses? I now have three legal dog tags, one for Maryland, one for Virginia (Rockbridge County) and one for Azrizona (Mary Copa County). The Azrizona one came today. Dad put it on for me. I loved it. Muzzer said three dog tags made too much noise, so Dad took my collar away and took off the ones for Maryland and Virginia. I feel disenfranchised. My identity is challenged. How am I gonna wake them up when I jump off the bed if I don't have all my tags?

28 August 2006

My parents have many anniversaries. Some of them I understand. Some of them are a mystery to my wirey mind. The ones I understand are things like: the anniversary of their first date....April Fool's Day, the anniversary of their wedding in June, the anniversaries of the birth of their children, the anniversary of my arrival in Decemeber. But they seem to have another "anniversary" coming up! How many anniversaries can two people have?

They have been talking about this "anniversary" thing that happens today for quite some time now. I couldn't quite figure out what was going on. So, I have been lurking in the corners and listening in, and now I can tell you "The rest of the story!"

My dad teaches at the University, and last year he had a sabbatical. My muzzer and father planned to spend the year in New Orleans, where he was going to be doing research at Tulane. Here is a picture of their house in New Orleans. I am sure it was a cute place, but one of the things I found out while lurking about was that there were TWO cats who lived there also! Whew.

Anyway, they left our home in Arizona and arrived in New Orleans on August 15th. They unpacked, they bought a few extra things for the house, and they were going to start working on muzzer's list of restaurants and Dad's list of things to research and write about.

One Saturday, 12 days after they arrived, they heard the mayor of New Orleans say that there was going to be a very bad storm, and people should leave.

Muzzer and dad said "Hey, wait, we just got here!" But they filled up the car with gas and went grocery shopping. The television said that it looked like a BIG storm. Dad thought they should leave, but muzzer was worried about the cats! So they went to bed and slept a while and then muzzer got up very early and dad got up very early too. And they listened to some more radio and watched some more TV and they said..."OK, let's get the cats into the car and get outta here!" The neighbors said "no way, we're not going. We stayed through Betsy and we will stay through this one." Then they made some disparaging remarks about newcomers.

But, they didn't know muzzer. When she makes up her mind, she usually makes it happen. So, one cat went into the cat carrier that came with the house, and the other went into a wicker basket with a big towel, and they left very early that Sunday morning, and they drove NORTH!

They saw lots of other cars on the freeway. In fact, ALL the lanes of the freeway were going AWAY from New Orleans! And there were a lot of people who had their pets with them, so muzzer told me one time that it looked like a big family picnic when you stopped at a rest area. But all of these people had to stop somewhere, and so there were no hotels that had rooms along the freeway. So they drove a long while, and they came to Tennessee!

"Aha!" muzzer said. "We have ollld friends who live in Tennessee. Perhaps they can help us find a hotel or motel that will let us stay with two cats." So she opened her little address book and they called their ollld friends from college. And these old friends (who didn't know what they were asking for) said "No, you can't stay in a hotel. You must come and stay with us. We have a whole upstairs you can have!" But muzzer tried to explain about the cats, and about how they didn't know how long they would have to stay, and .... But still the ollld friends said "Come"

So my parents and the cats stayed with these friends and their very tolerant pets, Miss Gracie and Serena, until the Murphy Institute found a temporary home at Washington and Lee. And that is the story of how my parents got to Virginia, which is next door to Maryland, which is where they went in December to get me from my foster mom. So I guess this is kind of my anniversary too! Maybe I'll get a treat from the dinner tonight!

Oh, and those cats. Well they had a happy ending too! Their forever family flew to Tennessee to pick them up one weekend. They brought another cat carrier, and they all flew back to New York. And then, just a couple of weeks ago, they went back to New Orleans!

27 August 2006

The day finally came. My sister E.Beth came and took Teka to her apartment to live with her! I, Gussie, miss Teka very much.Most of the time.But not at meal time, when I can chew slowly and savor my food.And not at treat time, when I do not have to guard my treat to keep Teka from stealing it.And not at bed time, when I can pick my own spot on the big bed and no one growls at me to move over.And not when my father and I sit on the couch and watch baseball games together.And not when muzzer and I walk in the mornings.But the rest of the day, when there is no one to tussle with, and no one to play chase with in the yard, and no one to share toys and chew chips with me....those are the times I miss Teka.

Muzzer says not to be too sad. She says Teka will be coming over for play dates. She says, "maybe E.Beth won't have time for Teka and will bring her back for long visits." She says, "Travis is coming in a little less than a month to stay with us while his mom goes to England."

23 August 2006

Tonight muzzer ex-perimented with a new dinner mix from Trader Joe's. I like Trader Joe's, because that is where my Charley Bear snacks come from, and that is also where my favorite salami in a bag can be purchased. Muzzer and Dad are real Trader Joe's afficionados. When we were in Virginia, we were far, far away from a Trader Joe's! My sister E.Rabbitt would come from DeeSee with her tiny little car all loaded up with those brown paper bags that Joe uses. One of them always had my Charley Bears in it!

Anyway, last week when muzzer went to Trader Joe's, she picked up a new mix. And tonight we all had it for dinner! It was delicious, even if they did mix my portion of the left overs with my kibble. Muzzer says that she recommends it highly. Dad says it could use some more chilis. HOWEVER....Muzzer says it has possibly the worst set of directions she has ever seen on a box. Her recommendations are: Use more than 2 cups of water, or the noodles will not come out right. AND...read the whole set of directions before you set out to make the dinner. It seems there are some ingredients you are supposed to add that are not included on the list of additional ingredients at the top of the box! Like the bean sprouts!

But it was good anyway, as you can see from the second picture. Teka's dish is even cleaner than this! She really liked the noodles! But then she is a girl. What can I say????

Today was also the day that the man from DirectTV came and brought the Animal Planet back to my TV set! I haven't seen my friend Charley and his show since we left Virginia. I hope he has not left and gone somewhere else where I will not be able to find him. Teka and I are going to learn to use the remote! That way we can watch Animal Planet while the parents are at work. Will update you on my favorites later! Gotta go listen to the Ball Game with D.O.D.

20 August 2006

Hey guys and gals, look! These toes belong to me, Gussie. For the first time in wahoo ages they are nekkid! Now, I will admit that I need a pedicure badly, but I can hardly stop staring at this amazing appendage, without bandage!

Muzzer keeps hollering at me to stop licking them, but I have to ask: "If these were your toes, and you had not seen them for more than two weeks, wouldn't you want to check them out completely and make sure they were still the right ones?" I mean, maybe someone snuck in another set while I wasn't looking! And truly, they smelled very strange when the bandage came off. Whoo-eee sister! So I started examining them closely, and very efficiently have been cleaning them at the same time. Don't you think that deserves some praise? Not: "stop that licking Gussie!" Not: "If you can't leave your toes alone, I'm putting a sock on you!" Muzzers! You just can't seem to please them 100%.

Anyway, that has been the highlight of my weekend. I am pretty sure that I am not getting off this lightly, there will almost certainly be another visit to that lady vet so she can "check it out." But for right now, I am barefoot again and it is wonderful!

I hope my sister E.Rabbit is doing as well as I am. I will have to e-mail her for an update, maybe we can do another side by side comparison piece tomorrow.In closing, here is another shot of me watching my toes to make sure they aren't going into hiding again. Take care of your toes my loyal readers, and they will take care of you!

16 August 2006

Here is a picture of me, Gussie at my new favorite spot for carrying out my responsibilities as our neighborhood watch enforcer dog. I spend much of my "work at home time" here, keeping an eye on things on our street. From my vantage point I can see people walking on our street, with or without dogs attached, I can guard against rascally cats, I can see cars drive down the street and bark if they are going too fast! (and most of them are)

If there were squirrels in our neighborhood, I could guard against squirrels too! Did I mention that I hate squirrels? So does my new friend Ivy ! She has a blog with neat links to squirrelly sites. Click on her blog for the links, it is on my blog list, or will be shortly. Sometimes, I let my niece Teka help me with all my responsibilities. It is sort of on the job training for her. So far, she is VERY good at the barking part. She is not very good at the part where you stop barking. Sometimes we have to russle and tussle before she stops. But, I will continue working with her so that when she and E.beth move later this month, she can do her job guarding their new apartment. Today when the moving guys came to bring our furniture back from the storage locker, Teka and I practiced our vigilant watchfulness on them. We must not have been very convincing, because they kept telling dad what cute dogs we are! That was not the desired effect! Must put more muscle into my barking. Must learn to make menacing noises. GRRR! Must get groomed so people take me more seriously. By the way, thanks to all of you for voting for my friend George! He won the contest. Congratulations, George. I found his contest on Axel's website. Axel is always up to the minute on what is happening in the land of terriers. Thanks Axel!Well, gonna post this and work on setting up the link to Ivy! She may not be a terrier, but she is really smart, and most important, she doesn't like squirrels either!Gussie the Mussie

14 August 2006

My wirey blog-pals have this new game. You send someone an e-mail telling them they have to tell 5 weird things they do, and then pass the message along to your friends.

I am such a popular terrier that I got tagged twice! Once by Fee, a really cute wirey girl in Singapore, and once by my wirey pal Mackie! Makes me feel real good first thing in the morning!

So, here are five of the weird things I do.

I walk well on a leash. For a WFT, that is really a weird thing. Pictures of my wirey friends on line show most of them wearing a harness for walkies! I am a true gentleman. See earlier posts for proof.

I sleep on my back with all four paws in the air. The first time my muzzer saw that, she thought I was dead! Fooled her, huh?

My food bowls must be arranged with the dry food on my left and the water on my right! If not, I will use my nose to re-arrange them.

I must circle a bush twice before I can ascertain whether or not it is appropriate for baptism. Do not rush me, this is important!

My stomach is usually very serene. One day I had a bad gas attack. I felt the need to bark at my rear end every time I let out a smelly!

I'm sure there are more weird things I do! If you really want to know, you can ask my muzzer. Or maybe my sister E.Rabbit can tell you. Dad can't help, he thinks I am perfect

13 August 2006

Dad and I were busy working tonight and muzzer was driving us crazy taking pictures. We are very proud of his new desk, which we ordered in Santa Fe and put together one Saturday when muzzer was at work. It took us all day, and we worked really hard, but it was worth it!

See how organized we are? That is Dad's laptop, where he sometimes lets me blog, and all the books he uses for his work. That is also the laptop where we watch the St. Louis Cardinal baseball games, thanks to MLB.com and their service. It is a bit slow, but better than nothing. The Cardinals are my dad's favorite team. Muzzer says that if they had ended up living in the St. Louis area, they would probably have been divorced by now! Pretty good thing for me that they didn't, huh?

In this picture you can just see my new bandage. I think it is smaller than the last one was, and the vet was very pleased with my progress. They took the old one off me in the examining room this time and muzzer turned a bit green. My foot looked a lot better, but she said it smelled like moldy gym socks. I thought that it smelled just fine! Like my other foot, only a little stronger and slightly more piquant. Whooeee!

Teka and I have been romping an playing all day and I am a little weary. I think as soon as I finish here, I will go stake out my spot on the big bed. I have to tell you, it is starting to get crowded in there. Teka is supposed to sleep in her crate, at least that is what E.Beth says. Muzzer would prefer that Teka sleep in her crate too. However, me and dad are real softies, and we bring her into the big bed with us at night. Muzzer is threatening to make us all sleep on Dad's side of the bed, but me and Teka like to sleep right in the middle! Mostly we sleep closer to muzzer, cause she is littler than Dad, and she doesn't snore as much! Maybe we will have to stop crowding her quite so much. Wouldn't want to have us banned from the big bed because muzzer hot flashed once too often!

Guess that is all for tonight! We are helping E.beth pack so she and Teka can move back to their apartment closer to school. I am going to miss Teka, but she will be close enough to come for visits, and I can get back to being an only dog. Muzzer says I am too much of a gentleman and should put Teka in her place, but dad and I are old fashioned gentlemen, so unless Teka takes my kitten that isn't gonna happen.

10 August 2006

Today while Teka and I were playing in the yard a Big, Black Bird came swooping over our heads. Teka jumped and tried to catch it, but it was way too high and flying too fast! She went back to sniffing the grass, and the BBB came back! It swooped down and hollered at her, then just as she tried to jump up and get it, it would fly away. They kept on and on, and she barked louder and louder, but the bird would not go away. I was getting very tired of this game, so I ran toward the bird and barked my fiercest wirey bark! It flew away and did not come back. I saved Teka from the BBB! So, at least to Teka, I am a hero.

Saturday I go to see the vet very early to get my toes checked. I hope they are all still there! Muzzer has e'splained that I will get another bandage just like this one only cleaner. Makes me long for the days of the pink bandage, this is getting boring.

Oh well. Muzzer asked tonight if I want to spend the day at work with her! Do I! You bet. Let Teka try to scare away the bbb on her own. I get lots of treats when I help at work! The ladies even let me come into the dressing rooms! Yahshur! You betcha!

06 August 2006

I've been busted...Again! Muzzer caught me chewing on my right front paw again, so she took me to see the vet here in Tempe. Oh My! This is one thorough veterinarian! She looked into and under everything. Twice. She poked and prodded. I kept saying..."Hey, vet lady! It's just the front paw." Did she pay attention...no no no!

Then she took me away from muzzer and into the back room. You know what they do in the back room don't you? Yup. They clipped all the hair from between my toes. And most of the hairs on top of my foot. And then they cleaned it! And then they cleaned it again! And then they put some smelly stuff on it and before I could even get in a good lick, they bandaged it up again.

And then, And then.....they gave me three (3) (tres) shots in my rump. Now, I think this is excessive. Plus they told muzzer I would be wearing this thing for at least two and maybe three weeks! Yuck! Even with them changing it a couple of times a week, it gets gross. Plus, who knows what they will do to me the next time they get me in the back room. Horrors!!!!

So, I am not posting any more pictures because it looks about the same as the last time. But I hope all the rest of you wires out there with the itchies are feeling better, and I will keep you updated.

Also, you all know how hard it is to blog with two paws and no opposing thumbs. Just you try it with one paw in a clumsy bandage thingy.

I am sure this is all happening because someone is jealous of my blogging skills. Either that, or being home with Teka has made me nervous and upset and this is a psychosomatic reaction. I tried explaining that to the vet lady, and she wasn't buying either of those reasons. Where is my credibility! I will have to see about getting a White House Press Pass so I can get some respect around here.

05 August 2006

NO, NO, not that one! Do not despair...I have not become a compassionate conservative! But my friend Axel is asking people to vote for his pal George, a Wirey fox terrier who is entered in a photo contest. If you have a second, click on the link below: http://www.housepetmagazine.com/contest.htm It is an exciting race! Worth the click just to see George and read his story

04 August 2006

Today, Teka and I went out into the yard to play. Now, a lot of my wirey friends on line are suddenly into the idea of having a brother or sister, and I thought I would share some of my ideas with you. When we first go into the yard, Teka behaves very well. She makes like a submissive female sibling, even though she is really my niece, not my sister.

Then, we start to tussle a little bit. And I get to show her who is the REAL boss! There is much grinning and baring of teeth, as you can see. We have a big yard in the back of our house with lots of trees. She likes to run in circles around the yard and see if she can scare some birds. Then she comes back to me for some praise and applause. Gotta tell you, raising terriers is not as easy as we make it look. Thenwe have to talk it out a bit. She is not sure how to act and I have to put her in her place a LOT!!!!

Now we get to the part I really like! I get to show my teeth and she shows me hers! We tussle in the grass and everybody has a really good time! Then we play our game where she runs in a circle and I stand in the middle and watch. Even though we have nearly half an acre to run on (in?) she goes really fast and I can hardly keep track of her! I have to put her in her place again, sometimes I have to sit on her head to make her behave. Finally, we remember what we wanted to do when we came out here and we go our separate ways! Not to worry, we can start again whenver we want to!Your palGussieAnd Teka, too

Muzzer and I have been reading on all my Wirey Pal's blogs how hot it is in the rest of the country! Must say that it has been pretty warm here in Phoenix, too. In fact, I have been soooo hot that it has been difficult for me pull my terrier body off the cool tile floor to blog! So, apologies to my fan club, and here I am again with the latest update.

We finally got the last suitcase unpacked and put away, and we don't have any "real" trips planned until October, when muzzer turns 60! Note to Dad: This had better be a good one, I'm thinking she wants to go to that hotel on Coronado where you and I can take lessons in surfing! What do you think?

However, I am going to meet my new Vet next week, (this will be my third dog license in less than a year!) and muzzer and I also start our new work schedule at her store. I will be "in the building" on Monday and Wednesday. Teka will be "in the crate" at the house, and poor Dad will be back at ASU "in the classroom" Can fall weather be far behind?

And, I need a haircut and shampoo, but we are still looking for someone in our area who will at least partly hand strip. Any suggestions would be appreciated, according to muzzer. I am not so sure about that, so please use code. My experiences with hand stripping have not all been golden! I agree with my pal Axel who said it was kind of like plucking a chicken before you kill it! And I'm pretty handsome anyway, right?

Getting used to life with Teka has been a bit easier this time, but I still have to hide in muzzer's bedroom to get any rest! That pup doesn't know the meaning of the word REST! We are training her to spend time in a crate, because she is not very reliable in her toilet habits, and she also tears things up pretty badly! But she is much better about using her crate than I am, so that is going pretty well. She still has no manners on our walks, and she is a very jealous dog! Some days, I would sell her pretty cheap, but she sure is cute! Oops, gotta go now, she made a mess in the living room again.